Vascular diseases, such as atherosclerosis and the like, have become quite prevalent in the modern day. These diseases may manifest themselves in a number of ways, often requiring different forms or methods of treatment for curing the adverse effects of the diseases. Vascular diseases, for example, may take the form of deposits or growths in a patient's vasculature which may restrict, in the case of a partial occlusion, or, stop, in the case of a total occlusion, blood flow to a certain portion of the patient's body. This can be particularly serious if, for example, such an occlusion occurs in a portion of the vasculature that supplies vital organs with blood or other necessary fluids.
One treatment method involves removal of the occluding material. Devices used for such treatment methods, sometimes referred to as atherectomy devices, use a variety of material removal means, such as rotating cutters or ablaters, for example, to remove the occluding material. The material removal device is typically rotated via a drive shaft that extends out of the vascular of the patient and to an electric motor.
In operation, an atherectomy device is typically advanced over a guide wire placed in-vivo until the material removal device is positioned just proximal to the occluded site. The motor is used to rotate the drive shaft and the material removal device, and the material removal device is moved through the occluded vessel. The material removal device removes the material from the vessel, rather than merely displacing or reforming the material as in a balloon angioplasty procedure.